Convocation 2021

Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work

Graduate Stories

Global

Indigenous

Terrance Lafromboise and Hyungu Kang came to the Indigenous trauma and resiliency field of study at the ��Ƶ’s Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work carrying deep family histories that spanned war, community, resilience and healing – from the Blackfeet Reservation in Montana to Korea.

Now, as they receive their master of social work degrees this week, they are reflecting on the common bonds they’ve discovered and the healing path they’ve travelled together.

“A big part of the program involves exploring where we come from, what our stories are, what gives us strength and what makes us feel fragile so that we can become resilient social work professionals capable of hearing other people’s stories and helping them cultivate resilience,” says Kang, who studied neuroscience before beginning the Indigenous trauma and resiliency (ITR) program and does anti-violence work in northern Quebec along with other grassroots community organizing across the country.

“The ITR teachers call it ‘cleaning out the basement.’”

He says the process allowed him and his classmate to create a strong connection based on a deep understanding of each other’s backgrounds.

Launched in 2016, the ITR field of study evolved out of a collaboration between the Ontario Federation of Indigenous Friendship Centres (OFIFC), the Middelton-Moz Institute and the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work. It prepares graduates to help individuals, families and communities affected by historical and generational trauma in culturally relevant ways.

Every student in the field of study must design and maintain a personal wellness plan aimed at fostering their mental, emotional, physical and spiritual wellbeing. Faculty members and classmates provide a support network, represented by the circle in which the class gathers for ceremonies and learning during several intensive courses over the two-year program. Those courses are in person, but the rest are online, allowing students to stay in their home communities for most of their studies and both of their practicum placements.

Lafromboise and Kang were drawn to the program’s approach of drawing on wisdom from global Indigenous Peoples alongside the latest scientific knowledge related to social work practice with those who have experienced trauma.

“On the Blackfeet Reservation there’s a lot of suffering – alcoholism, domestic violence, suicide – from learned generational behaviour rooted in historical trauma,” says Lafromboise, who has been a youth mentor, coach and suicide prevention worker in his community. “I wanted to be part of the solution, and I chose the ITR program because its goal is to create holistic healers and therapists who are not only grounded in Western thought, but in traditional knowledge and teachings.”

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A post shared by Terrance LaFromboise (@lafromboyz)

Kang, meanwhile, says the program’s grounding in ceremony and in story held strong appeal.

“As a diasporic individual, I was still learning about my own story as a descendent of people from across the Korean peninsula, including rites of passages, rituals, ceremonies and my own mother’s language,” he says. “I knew I wanted to deepen that knowledge and experience not just in my own context, but especially those of Indigenous Peoples here on Turtle Island.”

At the program’s intensive courses, ceremonies mark the beginning and end of each day. Kang and Lafromboise often worked together to facilitate these rites, but they attribute the growth of their friendship more to the powerful conversations that are integral to the program.

“One assignment required us to partner up and explore our families’ pasts, and I told Hyungu about my grandfather being in the Korean War,” says Lafromboise. “I talked about the conflict I felt in that I loved him, but his traumatic stress had contributed to ignorance and racism against Korean people.”

It was a tough conversation that was left unfinished and then resumed in the final intensive course, when the two were tasked with creating a teaching for the class.

“We had a very honest conversation about the fact that our ancestors had been on opposite sides of the Korean War – his grandfather as a soldier and my grandparents as victims and survivors,” says Kang. “Once we were open about our feelings, we had a moment of forgiveness and release from historical pain.”

Together, they developed a teaching focused on how forgiveness can help forge new relationships and possibilities beyond ancestral and contemporary pain. Combining their two names, they called it “TerraGu.”

Central to the teaching is a song, or ceremonial chant, created by Lafromboise, who is a keeper of songs in his community. “I started dreaming about it before we even talked about TerraGu,” he says. “It’s an honour song in the spirit of new beginnings.”

The teaching’s inception coincided with Soman, a season in the traditional Korean calendar that translates to “the little ripening,” says Kang, which echoes its message of renewal.

The students’ response to the pair’s teaching was so overwhelmingly positive that their teachers asked them to deliver it to social work faculty members and the incoming first-year ITR class.

Lafromboise and Kang say it’s not surprising that their exploration of grief, healing and new beginnings would resonate with their peers, who had coped with a pandemic on top of their personal challenges throughout the program. Lafromboise, for one, lost people in his home community not just to COVID-19, but also to suicide and addictions.

Today Lafromboise is back on the Blackfeet Reservation working as a mental health consultant and cultural preservationist, while Kang is living in Quebec City and contemplating doctoral studies in social work. But they say they’re committed to staying in touch and spreading the message of TerraGu in whatever ways they can.

Lafromboise, whose ultimate goal is to establish a holistic healing centre to address intergenerational trauma in Montana’s large Indigenous population, has already used the teaching in educational sessions for mental health professionals. “I see so many potential applications for it in the area of trauma-informed therapy,” he says.

For now, the two new graduates are focused on sharing the broad knowledge they gained in the ITR field of study and the more specific wisdom they found through their friendship.

“TerraGu is all about transcending old conflicts and pain to build bridges,” says Lafromboise, who gifted his song to the program. “I hope the song helps to bring new beginnings for every student, and for everyone they work with in the future.”

After scaling a scholarly summit, U of T grad Saad Shahid Shafiq to help others realize their own dreams

Christopher.Sorensen — Thu, 18 Nov 2021 21:17:20 +0000

After scaling a scholarly summit, U of T grad Saad Shahid Shafiq to help others realize their own dreams

Christopher.Sorensen Thu, 11/18/2021 - 16:17

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Saad Shahid Shafiq credits U of T’s Transitional Year Programme for enabling him to attend university, where he became an activist on behalf of people with disabilities (photo by Johnny Guatto)

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When Saad Shahid Shafiq graduates from the ��Ƶ this week with a bachelor of arts degree, it will mark the fulfilment of a dream he thought he’d never achieve – a dream that’s now helping him realize his goal of helping others.

Shafiq, 36, credits U of T’s Transitional Year Programme for enabling him to attend university – an opportunity he made the most of by graduating with distinction with a specialist in philosophy, a double-major in Islamic studies and critical studies in equity and a minor in Indigenous studies

He compares the journey to convocation to climbing K2 – the most difficult mountain in the world to summit.

“I feel like I’ve truly accomplished something,” he says.

Shafiq, who immigrated to Canada when he was 24, was diagnosed with dyslexia when he was 10 years old and attending primary school in Karachi, Pakistan. While he recalls being aware that he wasn’t learning and progressing at the same rate as his peers, he says he struggled to understand why. “I didn’t know how to read or write,” he says. “It made me feel out of place. It was very lonely, and it affected how I interacted with people. I felt like I was in a box.”

After his teachers held him back a year, Shafiq’s mother had him tested for a learning disability. At the time, children with disabilities in the Pakistani school system did not receive tailored instruction or accommodations. To improve his chances of success, Shafiq’s parents enrolled him in Mark College, a boarding school in England that catered specifically to students with learning disabilities. He credits his mother, in particular, with getting him the help he needed.

“She was my champion,” he says. “She still is.”

Shafiq later finished high school and returned to Karachi. A few years after that, he immigrated to Toronto with his family. He worked odd jobs and concluded that, “If I ever wanted a stable job – a good job – I needed a post-secondary education.”

But where to apply? He was fairly new to Canada, almost 30, and had a learning disability. Who would take him?

Enter U of T’s Transitional Year Programme. Established in 1970, the program is designed for adults who don’t have the usual university qualifications. Each student in the eight-month program is provided with an academic adviser, funding options and a space to work as they take courses to prepare them for attending first year of university. Program participants can also use any of the resources available to other U of T students.

Shafiq, took two years to complete the program because of his learning disability. “It was very gruelling,” he says. After finishing in 2016, he was admitted to Woodsworth College. He remembers the prospect of attending the top-ranked university in Canada both thrilled and terrified him. “It was such a unique opportunity, though, so I had to grab it,” he says.

Shafiq picked classes he was passionate about – mostly related to equity – figuring this would make him more willing to put in the hard work he knew would be required to get good grades. “I enjoyed 99 per cent of my courses because I had wonderful professors who worked with me and didn’t let me feel like my disability was going to get in the way,” he says.

Like many students, Shafiq found the switch to online classes due to the pandemic, a challenge – especially keeping himself motivated. He noticed a greater demand for support from U of T’s Accessibility Services, where, due to his disability, he was registered to receive academic accommodations. “I had to be my own advocate sometimes,” he says.

Shafiq’s determination – and resilience – did not go unnoticed. Jill Carter, an assistant professor at the Centre for Drama, Theatre and Performance Studies who first met Shafiq when he began the Transitional Year Programme, says he showed himself to be a deeply engaged student who demonstrated “the highest ethical standards” and “an exemplary work ethic,” looking beyond his own challenges to help others.

“He has always been a mentor to his peers and conducted himself with the utmost professionalism and courtesy.” Carter says.

When asked about the highlights of his seven years at U of T, Shafiq says they all relate to his activism on behalf of people with disabilities. Working with Students for Barrier-Free Access, a student-led, volunteer organization that advocates for equity and inclusion at U of T, Shafiq helped students with disabilities apply for financial support under the Ontario Student Assistance Program. In 2019, he won the David Clandfield Scholarship in Scholarly Activism, awarded to a high-achieving student entering fourth year in equity studies who “demonstrates the potential to contribute to social justice issues.”

In 2018, Shafiq participated in a conference at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE), where he spoke with two other presenters at a 90-minute session on “Queer Identities and (Dis)ability Discourses.” He was also on the student advisory committee for the 2019 Hancock Lecture at Hart House, titled “Moving Toward a Disability Justice Revolution,” and was a member of the Woodsworth College Students’ Association.

Underlying all his work is Shafiq’s credo that no one should feel unequal to anyone else for some aspect of themselves – whether they are disabled, racialized, a member of the LGBTQ2+ community or any other marginalized group in society.

Following graduation, Shafiq says he would like to find work helping new immigrants to Canada or students who are struggling with mental illness. As an immigrant to Canada himself, Shafiq says he also understands the profound value of education for newcomers, particularly in a rapidly changing work environment.

“It’s a great way to develop a network and improve your sense of self-worth,” he says. “And U of T is one of the best universities. It certainly helped me.”

New beginnings: U of T celebrates Class of 2021 at virtual fall convocation ceremony

Christopher.Sorensen — Thu, 18 Nov 2021 21:06:53 +0000

New beginnings: U of T celebrates Class of 2021 at virtual fall convocation ceremony Christopher.Sorensen Thu, 11/18/2021 - 16:06

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Faculty of Information

Faculty of Law

Innis College

Meric Gertler

U of T Mississauga

U of T Scarborough

It’s typically proud parents who wipe away tears of joy on graduation day, but roles were reversed for Amanda Deeley during the ��Ƶ’s virtual fall convocation.

Deeley, a U of T student pursuing a graduate degree in sociology, took to Twitter to publicly congratulate her mother, Jane Reeves, for fulfilling her long-held dream of returning to university to acquire a master’s degree from U of T’s Faculty of Information.

“She had intended to for our whole childhood… but then she was working supporting the family and never really had that time,” said Deeley, who, like her mom, is a single parent who returned to university as a mature student. “I felt a little bit teary eyed. To see her actually accomplish this – during the pandemic – is just really inspiring and I’m really proud of her.”

Reeves, for her part, said graduating felt like turning over a new leaf.

“What’s really good about it – what's best – is that by the time I got here, I knew that it wasn't an end,” she said. “It was, rather, a new beginning.”

U of T President Meric Gertler (right) said the endeavours of U of T graduates “have shaped the world we live in and the way we understand that world.”

Deeley’s mom was one of more than 5,700 students from 70 countries who received their degrees in absentia at U of T’s fall convocation ceremony – and one of several U of T grads who proved there’s never a bad time to reinvent yourself or simply pursue a passion for learning.

The virtual ceremony celebrating the Class of 2021 featured many of the hallmarks of past U of T convocations, including organ music, a procession led by the bedel – who carries U of T’s gold-plated mace, a symbol of the university’s history and authority – and an exchange in Latin between U of T President Meric Gertler and Chancellor Rose Patten, who officially confers the degrees.

President Gertler congratulated graduates for reaching the finish line, thereby joining the 600,000-strong community of U of T alumni around the world.

“They are the university’s living legacy and our greatest ambassadors,” President Gertler said of U of T graduates. “Their endeavours have shaped the world we live in and the way we understand that world.”

He also thanked the Class of 2021 for their contributions to the university as students – and acknowledged the friends and relatives who helped each student on the road to convocation.

“I’m sure all graduates share a sense of gratitude to the friends and family members who have helped bring them to this special day.”

The president and chancellor were joined by Brian D. Lawson, chair of U of T’s Governing Council. Student governors Andrew Chen and Mozynah Nofal served as esquires, while alumnus David Simon played the organ.

Just watched my mom graduate with her Masters, at U of T's convocation ceremony. So proud! She's @uoftalumni now, sniffle! pic.twitter.com/ORAa8INuxg
— Amanda Deeley (@AmandaJDeeley) November 18, 2021

The ceremony’s convocation speaker was Lesra Martin, a leading civil lawyer, motivational speaker, author and graduate of Innis College. He saluted the graduating class for earning their degrees in unusually trying circumstances.

“A pandemic may have taken away how you celebrate, but it has not taken away the significance of this great event,” Martin said.

Martin said that being asked to speak at convocation prompted him to reflect on his own education and those who supported him, including his late grandmother who did not have the same opportunities.

“She told me once how she made a promise to herself that she would do whatever it took to build and enable a better life for her children,” he said. “I remembered how reliable she was, how strong she was. I have come to recognize, you see, that I had my start by standing on her shoulders, reaching up and grabbing the reins of hope offered by my university – the ��Ƶ.”

Born one of eight children in a troubled part of New York City, Martin received tutoring with the help of Canadian philanthropists and was able to enrol at U of T, graduating with a degree in anthropology and political science. He’s widely known for helping clear the name of Rubin “The Hurricane” Carter, a Black prizefighter whose career was cut short after being falsely accused of a triple murder in a case involving racial bias and prosecutorial misconduct. Martin and his Canadian family sifted through piles of evidence to exonerate Carter, a story retold in the 1999 film The Hurricane starring Denzel Washington as Carter.

Martin urged the Class of 2021 to use the skills and knowledge they acquired in university to address issues facing the world today: climate change, gender equality, racial and cultural equity, reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples and the pandemic.

“Don’t be afraid to take some risks along the way. Be brave,” he said. “Where you start does not mean that is where you will necessarily end up. The world might seem upside down right now, but you can help make things right side up.”

Marquela Nunes, who is graduating from U of T Scarborough with a degree in English and creative writing, is taking such advice to heart. She is using the fantasy book genre as a way to implement change by inviting her readers to imagine a better world.

“It’s almost too raw to write non-fiction because I’m not content with the world we live in,” said Nunes, whose debut novel takes inspiration from mythologies and histories of West Africa and Central Asia.

The Class of 2021 was also celebrated by their faculties colleges and campuses. Three student welcome ambassadors and 26 divisional ambassadors, as well as university leaders, made brief appearances to salute graduates and wish them well as they take their next steps.

“University is one of those really, really cool areas where the majority of folks are young adults that are looking to start something – start that next chapter of their life, or folks that are coming back after having done things outside and are looking to pivot or grow more,” said Amna Adnan, U of T Mississauga's welcome ambassador, who graduated with an honours bachelor degree in science.

Convocation speaker and Innis College graduate Lesra Martin, a leading civil lawyer and motivational speaker, urged the Class of 2021 to use their skills and knowledge to address issues ranging from climate change to reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples.

Daniel Del Gobbo graduated with a doctor in juridical science from the Faculty of Law and is pursuing a post-doctoral fellowship at McGill University, where he’s researching the possibilities of restorative justice to address systemic human rights violations and promote reconciliation with LGBTQ2 peoples.

But first, Del Gobbo planned to unwind with a little baking for himself, his partner and family – on the menu: a sticky toffee pudding.

“I try to find any excuse to bake,” he said. “If a career in legal academia doesn’t work out, then I'm setting my sights on being a contestant on the Great Canadian Baking Show!”

Gloria Williams, on the other hand, already enjoyed a successful career as a nurse in the U.K. and Toronto. But that didn’t stop her from fulfilling her wish to earn a degree from U of T four decades after she began studies at the university.

The retired nurse earned an honours bachelor degree in sociology, Caribbean studies and political science this week, helping to satisfy her passion for lifelong learning.

“It was not the path most people take,” said Williams, a member of Woodsworth College. “But I am over the moon to be graduating.”

Jacqueline Wetton, a mother of two who – out of concern for the environment – opted to return to school to obtain a degree in nursing instead of continuing to work in the oil sands industry, watched the Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing’s online reception with her husband while her mom, a retired nurse, tuned in from Nova Scotia.

“The kids were at school but we will celebrate with a little cake tonight,” Wetton wrote in an email. “I’m sure they will be more excited about the cake than the actual reason behind it though:)"

As for Reeves, she says she’s realized what she’s always suspected.

“Learning doesn’t ever end. It continues,” she said. “Achieving this opens new vistas of understanding. That’s the best part. That and the fact that my daughters – I have two, Amanda and Laura – are proud of me.”

'I want to have an impact': U of T grad Zihan Gao one step closer to career as a clinician-scientist

Christopher.Sorensen — Thu, 18 Nov 2021 16:46:31 +0000

'I want to have an impact': U of T grad Zihan Gao one step closer to career as a clinician-scientist

Christopher.Sorensen Thu, 11/18/2021 - 11:46

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(Photo courtesy of Zihan Gao)

Scott Anderson

Topic

Our Community

Temerty Faculty of Medicine

Graduate Stories

Translational Research Program

University Health Network

Woodsworth College

Zihan Gao had just turned 13 when her mother – who had lost her own mother at that age – asked her a startling question: “What would you do if I passed away today?”

Gao became upset at the thought and was unable to answer. But the query got Gao thinking, for the first time, about the possibility of a career in medicine.

In retrospect, she considers the question a gift.

“I knew I wanted to do everything I could to keep my family with me,” says Gao, 19, who graduates from the ��Ƶ this week with a bachelor’s degree in science.

“The more I dove into the subject, the more interested I became.”

With her undergraduate degree in hand, Gao is now one step closer to her goal of becoming a clinician-scientist. She credits the pandemic with enabling her to complete her degree ahead of schedule – in just over three years. With little else to do in the summer months due to public health restrictions, she signed up for as many courses as she could.

“I wanted to maximize the use of my time,” says Gao, who is U of T’s youngest graduate this fall.

While applying to medical school is on the horizon, Gao has decided, with the time she has saved, to first enrol in the university’s master of health science in translational research program. She says she was inspired to pursue experimental science after participating in U of T’s Research Opportunities Program, which, in her third year, placed her on a project led by Hance Clarke, an associate professor in anesthesiology and pain medicine in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine.

As part of the program, Gao wrote an original research proposal, analyzed data and delivered a final report about the effect of anxiety on perceived pain in a particular patient population – all with guidance from Clarke. She says the experience demonstrated to her the immense value of clinical science: “It changes people’s lives.”

Gao will undertake her own year-long research project as part of her master’s degree. Right now, she’s interested in health-care systems and surgery, but she admits this could change as she learns more.

“I’m open to a lot of different areas,” she says.

Gao adds that one of the reasons she chose U of T was its vast range of academic opportunities and her assumption – which turned out to be true – that she would be able to explore almost any idea.

“In high school, I felt there was a very visible norm that people followed,” she says. “At U of T, I got to make my own choices. That was something I really liked about being here.”

While in high school, she had also read about the university’s partnership with the University Health Network and figured U of T would be a great place to learn about medicine. “This platform – the network and the connections – was a huge attraction for me.”

She plans to apply to medical school, including the Temerty Faculty of Medicine, next year.

In the meantime, a recent memory keeps Gao motivated: During the pandemic, she trained to become a hospice volunteer – to support people as they face their own mortality, and to bring comfort to their loved ones. She also witnessed the power of research to develop vaccines and save lives. As a clinician-scientist, she hopes to be able to improve outcomes not just for individuals but, through science, for an entire population.

“I want to have an impact at both levels,” she says.

From petroleum to public health: U of T Nursing grad embarks on second career

rahul.kalvapalle — Thu, 18 Nov 2021 16:42:45 +0000

From petroleum to public health: U of T Nursing grad embarks on second career

rahul.kalvapalle Thu, 11/18/2021 - 11:42

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After more than a decade working in Canada's oil sands, U of T grad Jacqueline Wetton decided to launch a new career in nursing (photo courtesy of Jacqueline Wetton)

Rahul Kalvapalle

Topic

Our Community

Mount Sinai Hospital

With a degree in engineering and over a decade of experience working for some of Canada’s largest oil sands producers, Jacqueline Wetton built a strong foundation for a long career in the oil and gas industry.

But two years ago, the mother of two decided to leave it all behind and start over as a nurse – in part due to the circumstances surrounding the birth of her first child, but also because of a nagging feeling that the oil and gas business ultimately wasn’t a good fit.

So, she enrolled in the bachelor of science program at the ��Ƶ’s Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing.

“It sounds really cliché, but I wanted my children to see me doing something that made a difference in people’s lives everyday,” says Wetton, 37, of her decision to switch careers. “I felt that I wasn’t doing that in my previous job.”

Going back to school while raising a young family was tricky enough, but Wetton – like all U of T students – also had to navigate an unexpected and unprecedented challenge: a global pandemic. Yet, she still managed to earn the Dean’s Medal, the highest academic honour offered by the faculty.

Wetton graduated with her first degree in environmental engineering from Dalhousie University in 2008, at the height of the oil sands boom. She and her husband, whom she met at Dalhousie, settled in Alberta and established careers in oil and gas. But working in an industry that is contributing so directly to climate change didn’t sit right with them.

“Something we talked about a lot and always struggled with was the moral issue of working for oil and gas,” says Wetton. “We tried to justify it to ourselves by saying, ‘Well, the world needs energy’ or ‘If we weren’t doing this job, somebody else would be.’”

Jacqueline Wetton is pictured with her two sons, Nash (left) and Milo (right), and the Dean’s Medal from the Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing (photo courtesy of Jacqueline Wetton)

She also endured struggles as a woman in a male-dominated environment.

“I was very stressed at times trying to hold my own with guys that were my dad’s age or older telling me ‘I don’t have to listen to you’ and that sort of thing.”

Eventually, the couple moved to Toronto to be closer to family, while maintaining their jobs in Alberta and regularly flying out to their work camp north of Fort McMurray.

They also decided to start a family of their own, with Wetton becoming pregnant in late 2014.

In late April 2015, while her husband was in Alberta for his camp rotation, Wetton’s water broke a month prematurely. She was rushed to what is now Michael Garron Hospital to give birth while her husband scrambled to get a flight back to Toronto.

She says the experience of being helped through a successful premature birth was one of the factors that ultimately nudged her toward a career in nursing.

“Even though it was stressful dealing with the uncertainties of what was going on, having those medical professionals – especially the nurses, because they’re the ones who are there round the clock, checking on you every hour, providing emotional support and doing a lot of the hands-on tasks – was really eye-opening to me.”

In 2017, Wetton became pregnant for the second time and went on maternity leave. By then, her husband had quit his engineering job and started his own business – but Wetton still had to figure out her next career move.

At the time, her younger sister was starting a career as a nurse. Wetton recalls a conversation with her that had a huge impact.

“[It was] this sentiment she had of like, ‘Even when I have a really bad day at work, I come away from it feeling like at least I helped somebody and I made a difference in their life that day,” she says. “I really admired that, and it was something that made me think, ‘Geez, if I could go back and do it all over, maybe I should’ve done nursing.’”

And so she did. Wetton settled on the Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing’s two-year bachelor of science, a second-entry program that caters to students with previous university education and career experiences.

She says the first fall semester was relatively smooth sailing. But by the time winter set in, Wetton was in clinical environments on a regular basis and noting something worrisome was around the corner due to COVID-19 – even if she didn’t comprehend the scale of what was to come.

In March 2020, with Toronto experiencing its first pandemic lockdown, Wetton found herself having to run the household and watch the kids during the day and then catch up on recorded lectures late at night.

The following fall and winter would prove to be even more stressful. Wetton was now doing in-person clinical shifts twice a week and worried constantly about potentially exposing her family to the virus. She and her husband could also no longer rely on family or hired help for childcare. “That was really hard. There were a lot of late nights for both of us – just trying to catch up on whatever we didn’t accomplish during the day,” she says.

Then, this past April, Wetton began her 12-week practicum at Mount Sinai Hospital, doing a mix of daytime and evening shifts on a full-time schedule, which meant little time with her kids.

While completing a practicum amid a pandemic brought challenges, it also heightened Wetton’s interest in public health and strengthened her conviction that she belonged in nursing.

“I saw how the social determinants of health can influence why a person might get sick and why certain populations are more affected than others. I saw the benefits of public health and what people in public health can do with the right guidance and influence on the population,” she says. “It cemented my gut feeling that I had when I started the program that this would be a good fit for me.

“I really felt I’d found my spot in the universe.”

Wetton also credits her second-year course, NUR461 (Primary Health Care: Nursing Perspectives), with fostering her interest in community and public health nursing. “You’re looking at things from a holistic, preventative viewpoint. You’re not just engaging with individuals or families – you’re engaging with communities, and there’s a social justice aspect to it as well,” she says. “It just really spoke to me.”

Wetton is now on the lookout for jobs in public health nursing. “I’d really like to get involved with Toronto Public Health or Public Health Ontario,” she says. “I’d like to continue with health promotion, illness prevention and looking at how we can make whole communities of people healthier.”

As she prepares for that first job, albeit in a second career, Wetton says her early fears around leaving engineering, being too old to start a second degree or not fitting in with younger classmates all proved to be unfounded.

“Everybody’s in the program because they want to be a good nurse and they care about other people, and everyone was so supportive,” she says. “The faculty as well were so supportive of people with different work-life situations. They value that expertise because the more viewpoints you can get from people, the more it just enriches everybody’s experience.”

A mentor and role model, U of T grad Amna Adnan shares her journey of 'grit and resilience'

Christopher.Sorensen — Wed, 17 Nov 2021 21:19:54 +0000

A mentor and role model, U of T grad Amna Adnan shares her journey of 'grit and resilience'

Christopher.Sorensen Wed, 11/17/2021 - 16:19

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Amna Adnan was an active volunteer and work-study student throughout her five-year university career, mentoring fellow students and facilitating workshops (photo by Nick Iwanyshyn)

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Amna Adnan’s path to convocation can best be described as a journey – one that saw her change her major six times, discovering more about herself along the way.

She was also a role model who touched the lives of numerous fellow undergraduates at the ��Ƶ Mississauga as a leader and mentor, empowering them to realize their full potential.

When she receives her degree this week, Adnan will also have a couple of other honours under her belt, including the Laura Krajewski Student Mentorship Award and being named U of T Mississauga's welcome ambassador for convocation.

“My friends and family that I’ve told have been incredibly excited,” says Adnan, who will be graduating with an honours bachelor degree in science with a major in psychology and minors in English and sociology.

Adnan has been an active volunteer and work-study student throughout her five-year university career, particularly with the Centre for Student Engagement. She mentored fellow students at the centre and facilitated workshops in a variety of roles including as a peer leadership coach and LAUNCH Leader. Adnan has also been a student mentee through various programs such as utmLead and the Alumni Mentorship Program.

“My goal is to try and help people reach the potential that they have within them that’s often obscured by a lack of confidence or not knowing where to go,” Adnan explains. “Mentorship for me is a personal value, and I want to help people become what I can’t become.”

While Adnan served as a role model and leader on campus, she notes that she went through her own mental health journey – an experience many other students can relate to.

In her third year, she learned she had ADHD. She calls that moment a “game-changer.”

“Once I learned that about myself … I did take a few courses just to help learn more about mental health partly because I wanted to understand myself more, but also because I wanted to become a better resource and tool for accessibility both in my life and also in my professional spaces,” Adnan says.

She pivoted throughout her academic career. Initially accepted to U of T Mississauga as a life sciences student with a plan to study biology or chemistry, Adnan soon realized that, while she loved learning about the subjects, her heart wasn’t in the lab components.

After that, she looked into studying psychology, management and English. In the end, she decided to study a combination of psychology, English and sociology.

“There are lots of ways to achieve your goals, and your goals can be different than the mainstream. In terms of academics, I really made it work for me,” she says, adding that she hopes her personal experiences have helped others – particularly first-year students and those who have felt nervous about changing their majors.

When Adnan graduates, she is planning for a career in student affairs at a post-secondary school.

Adnan says she has always looked up to her parents, particularly her father, who died when she was in high school.

“(They were) immigrants to the country, incredibly hardworking, very sacrificing,” Adnan says, adding that they taught her that “the hard work you put into something is more important than whether or not you succeed in it, and that has helped to kind of define my processes of grit and resilience.”

'I'm not content with the world we live in': U of T grad uses fantasy genre to pursue real-life change

Christopher.Sorensen — Wed, 17 Nov 2021 21:14:34 +0000

'I'm not content with the world we live in': U of T grad uses fantasy genre to pursue real-life change

Christopher.Sorensen Wed, 11/17/2021 - 16:14

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Marquela Nunes, who graduates on Nov. 18, is using the fantasy book genre to create a safe space to unpack and rewrite history so that LGBTQ rights and racial equality have always existed (photo courtesy of Marquela Nunes)

Topic

It was through fantasy that Marquela Nunes found an outlet for real-world activism.

The soon-to-be graduate of the ��Ƶ Scarborough used the book genre – characterized by elements such as magic and epic characters – to create a safe space to unpack and rewrite history so that LGBTQ rights and racial equality have always existed.

Her debut novel, the first draft of which has been completed, pulls from the mythologies and histories of West Africa and Central Asia in order to “re-imagine how wondrous our world could be.”

“It’s almost too raw to write non-fiction because I’m not content with the world we live in,” Nunes says. “Sometimes, I want to escape and writing fantasy is that escape for me.

“Ultimately, I like to write fantasy because it opens a world of possibilities.”

Nunes, who graduates this week from the specialist co-op program in English with a minor in creative writing, says two professors from U of T Scarborough’s department of English had a profound impact on her: Associate Professor Karina Vernon, who nurtured her interpretation of course material; and Assistant Professor SJ Sindu, who helped her gain confidence while working on the novel.

“Being able to bounce certain ideas off her and get in-depth feedback was very valuable to me,” Nunes says of Sindu. “She had a huge influence on me.”

Nunes’s efforts to initiate conversations about equity and inclusion are shaped by her many volunteer and communications roles on campus and in the community. In 2017, Nunes began volunteering with the Imani Academic Mentorship Program, an initiative that helps Black youth in Scarborough pursue post-secondary education.

“This helped me decide the type of activist I wanted to be. It was a stepping stone to what I’m doing right now with my writing.”

As a co-op student, Nunes worked as an online projects co-ordinator to support the development of unconscious bias training modules – an equity and diversity initiative led by Maydianne Andrade, a professor in the department of biological sciences at U of T Scarborough. Nunes designed a series of web videos to provide a user-friendly experience for U of T staff and faculty to learn about how to spot unconscious bias in the workplace.

Nunes currently works in finance and continues her equity work part-time at the Federation of Black Canadians, a non-profit organization that works with community partners to advance the interests of Black communities across the country.

After juggling work and school throughout the pandemic, Nunes’s advice to students is to not allow grades to define your worth – and don’t compare yourself to others.

“Grades are one part of your time at university,” Nunes says. “Do a lot of self-searching and prioritize learning about who you are as a person.”

'Don't be shy – ask lots of questions': Gloria Williams returned to U of T after 40 years to earn degree

Christopher.Sorensen — Wed, 17 Nov 2021 14:43:24 +0000

'Don't be shy – ask lots of questions': Gloria Williams returned to U of T after 40 years to earn degree

Christopher.Sorensen Wed, 11/17/2021 - 09:43

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Following her retirement after her career as a nurse, Gloria Williams returned to U of T to earn a bachelor of arts degree with a major in sociology and minors in Caribbean studies and political science (photo courtesy of Gloria Williams)

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Gloria Williams, who graduates this week from the ��Ƶ, is the first to admit she followed a career path that was “not traditional.”

Some 40 years after first being enrolled in nursing at U of T and after a rewarding, decades-long career as a nurse, Williams will be receiving her honours bachelor of arts degree from the Faculty of Arts & Science, with a major in sociology and minors in Caribbean studies and political science.

“It was not the path most people take,” says Williams, a member of Woodsworth College. “But I am over the moon to be graduating.”

Williams is originally from Jamaica and moved to the United Kingdom as a teenager to join her family. There, she became a registered nurse and worked at the Great Ormond Street Hospital in London, the institution upon which Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children is modelled.

“But I was young and wanted to travel,” she says about the next phase of her career. “Canada was looking for nurses, so I applied to the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto and was accepted. I left the U.K. and came here in 1972.”

Williams was surprised at the racism she encountered in her new country – more than she’d experienced in the U.K.. An added difficulty was that she was on her own with no family to provide her with support. Yet, despite such challenges, she continued to dedicate herself to her career.

“My work as a nurse was so important to me,” she says. “It was an opportunity to help people. I was a neonatal nurse and was one of the first two nurses in a research program transporting sick, premature infants by helicopter from peripheral hospitals to Sick Children’s neonatal unit for care. Without this intensive care the mortality rate was high.”

In 1979, while continuing to work at the hospital, Williams enrolled in the nursing program at U of T and went on to complete her degree at what was then Ryerson Polytechnic Institute, becoming a member of the International Honour Society.

But she never let go of her dream of returning to U of T.

“I never gave up on that idea for one moment,” she says. So, she made it a reality upon retiring, enrolling in a program that had nothing to do with her career, but instead satisfied her life-long passion for learning.

Among many memories from the past four years, Williams says she’ll remember her exceptional instructors.

In particular, she admired Arnold Itwaru, who died earlier this year. Itwaru founded the Caribbean studies program at New College, was its director for 10 years and developed important courses in its curriculum.

“I went to one lecture that Professor Itwaru gave,” she says, “and I was so impressed by him that I ended up taking three of his courses.”

When she compares being a student in the 1980s and 2020s, Williams applauds the support students receive today. For example, when she was having difficulty in one course and it appeared she couldn’t drop it, she sought help from her adviser who consulted with the registrar. They looked at her academic record and determined that she could indeed drop it.

Her advice to students today?

“Come prepared to work,” she says. “University is not a continuation of high school. Come prepared to work and don't be shy – ask lots of questions.”

Williams also advises students to read voraciously as she did growing up. She recalls the words of author Emilie Poulsson that her mother taught her as a child:

“Books are keys to wisdom's treasure;
Books are gates to lands of pleasure;
Books are paths that upward lead;
Books are friends. Come, let us read.”

“And make friends,” she adds. “Because you will meet people at university who will become lifelong friends.”

‘Very humbling’: U of T students, alumni to celebrate their peers at virtual fall convocation

Christopher.Sorensen — Tue, 16 Nov 2021 00:25:15 +0000

‘Very humbling’: U of T students, alumni to celebrate their peers at virtual fall convocation

Christopher.Sorensen Mon, 11/15/2021 - 19:25

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From left to right: Welcome ambassadors Amna Adnan of U of T Mississauga, Khaled Elemam of St. George and Devlin Grewal of U of T Scarborough.

Geoffrey Vendeville

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Our Community

Temerty Faculty of Medicine

Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy

Dalla Lana School of Public Health

Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work

Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering

Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education

Faculty of Dentistry

Faculty of Information

Faculty of Law

Faculty of Music

Innis College

John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture